Judge Robert J Conrad, Jr. (U.S. District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina) has published a new book John Fisher and Thomas More: Keeping Their Souls While Losing Their Heads. Nearly 500 years after the deaths of the Saints, Judge Conrad examines their lives in a collection of stories “demonstrating how their sanctity and integrity carried them and those who loved them through tumultuous and heart-wrenching times which, perhaps surprisingly, bear a striking resemblance to the present epoch.”

Judge Conrad served as the United States Attorney for the WD of North Carolina from 2001 to 2004. He spoke on the Berger case and in particular Justice Sutherland’s quote on the role of a United States Attorney to seek justice at NAFUSA’s 2016 conference om San Diego.

Hon. Robert J. Conrad, Jr.

During the ongoing pandemic of 2020-2021 federal, state and local courts have struggled with the need to try jury cases. The Honorable Robert J. Conrad Jr., U.S. District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, has been involved with a courtroom design innovation called the “Virginia Revival Model” and found it to be helpful in improving the safety of courtrooms during the age of the covid.

According to Judge Conrad, the Virginia Model’s “essential features are a center-based jury box underneath the judge, facing out; a witness box in the center of the well looking directly at the judge and jury; and counsel tables on each side. In the 18th century, the Commonwealth of Virginia county courts were intentionally designed this way to place the jury where it should be — at the center of a jury trial, as opposed to off to the side, symbolizing the jury’s shared authority with the judge.”

In an interesting article first appearing as Robert J. Conrad Jr., Jury Trials in a Pandemic Age, 104 JUDICATURE No. 3 (Fall/Winter 2020-2021), Judge Conrad describes the reconfiguration of a ceremonial courtroom to make a big jury box out of the spectator section of the court in order to continue to try jury trials during a pandemic. To date, 41 jury trials have been tried in this format. A new federal courthouse has been built in Charlotte and one of the district courtrooms has been designed on the Virginia Revival Model. The first criminal jury trial in that courtroom was successfully conducted in June.

Judge Conrad served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina from 2001 to 2004. He spoke on the Berger case and in particular Justice Sutherland’s quote on the role of a U.S. Attorney to seek justice at NAFUSA’s 2016 conference in San Diego. Click here to read the full article:

Jury Trials in a Pandemic Age

Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, the Dean of Berkeley Law has been a long time friend of NAFUSA and has given the Supreme Court Update at our 2015 conference in San Diego and at the 2019 conference in San Francisco. The Dean has introduced us to one of his colleagues, Avani Mehta Sood, Professor of Law at Berkeley. Professor Sood is conducting academic research on jury decision-making and is seeking assistance from our members. Please review her message below and we urge you to take a few moments to complete her survey.

Dear Former and Current Legal Practitioners,

 

I hope this message finds you and yours in good health.

 

I am a law professor and social psychologist, seeking your views and intuitions about different verdict formats in criminal jury cases, through an anonymous survey in the link below:

https://berkeley.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bqIc9CZ7wD0e9H7

(If this hyperlink does not activate, please copy and paste the above into your browser)

 

I would greatly appreciate if you would take 15-20 minutes to complete this survey and forward it to any other current or former lawyers (e.g., prosecutors, defense attorneys, civil litigators) you know who might be willing to complete it too. (No specific expertise is needed for the survey—it has been designed for non-lawyers to complete as well.)

 

Thank you for your time!

 

Best regards,

Avani Mehta Sood

Professor of Law

University of California, Berkeley

amsood@law.berkeley.edu

 

 

Duquesne University Law School is searching for a new Dean to succeed Dean Maureen Lally- Green who is retiring. The law school is a major force in Pennsylvania.  There are more Duquesne Law graduates on the state and federal bench in Pennsylvania than graduates from any other law school. The Search Committee is not confining its search to persons from academia.  The current Dean spent 10 years as a judge on the state intermediate appellate court before becoming the Dean.  Persons interested should contact Judge Jeffrey A. Deller, at judgedellerchambers@pawb.uscourts.gov

NAFUSA Board Member Donna Bucella has accepted the position of Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer for 7-Eleven, Inc. Prior to joining 7-Eleven, Donna was the President of Compliance at Guidepost Solutions. She also served as the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. In addition, Donna has an impressive record of public service, including working as Assistant Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service as the first Southeast Area Director for the Transportation Security Administration and as the first Director of the Terrorist Screening Center. Donna began her career serving in the U.S. Army, JAG Corps, where she retired as a Colonel.

Donna will focus on all aspects of legal compliance in this newly created role.

The State of Illinois and the City of Chicago have released a draft court-enforceable consent decree in the matter of State of Illinois v. City of Chicago, case no. 17-cv-6260,  that addresses the findings issued by the U.S. Department of Justice in January 2017 and that form the basis of the lawsuit filed by the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Illinois.  A copy of the draft consent decree can be found here: www.chicagopoliceconsentdecree.org.

As part of the consent decree, the parties have agreed to work to jointly identify an independent monitor to oversee compliance with the decree. On July 27, 2018. the parties are released the attached Request for Proposals. Responses to the Request for Proposal will be due on September 4, 2018. The Office of the Attorney General of Illinois has invited NAFUSA to notify its members of this opportunity, stating, “Given your organization’s stated mission, we believe you may have members who have an interest in serving as the independent monitor or participating as a team member.”

Click here to open RFP:

Request for Proposal – Monitor for Chicago Consent Decree

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Office of Dispute Resolution (FINRA) is seeking to expand the depth and diversity of its arbitrator roster and are currently looking for arbitrators to serve. Their goal is to diversify the roster of arbitrators who resolve securities disputes at FINRA. FINRA believes that NAFUSA members would make excellent arbitrators.

Nicole Haynes, Associate Director, Recruitment and Training writes:

Serving as a FINRA arbitrator is a great way for your members to give back to their communities, by lending their professional knowledge and experience to the arbitration process. Industry knowledge is NOT required, and there is absolutely no cost associated with applying. Applying, training and being on the roster are all free and we cover travel costs to and from arbitrations. Other benefits include free CLE for training and honoraria ($600 per day) when attending a hearing.

 

To apply to become a FINRA arbitrator, candidates must complete the online application at http://www.finra.org/arbitration-and-mediation/apply-now. Interested candidates may email us at Arbrecruitment@finra.org if they have any questions or to request additional information.

Michael Bromwich

Andrew Mc­Cabe, the former FBI deputy director fired less than two days before retirement has retained NAFUSA life member Michael R. Bromwich as his counsel. Bromwich is senior counsel at Robbins Russell Englert Orseck Untereiner & Sauber. Bromwich is also founder and managing principal of The Bromwich Group, a D.C.-based consulting company focused on crisis management, strategic advisory, law enforcement, public affairs and independent monitoring.

Bromwich has practiced law for 35 years in the public and private sector.  He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York (1983-87); Associate Counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel: Iran –Contra (1987-89); Inspector General of the Department of Justice (1994-99); and at the personal request of President Obama, took over the country’s offshore drilling regulatory agency following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico

McCabe served as the FBI deputy director until Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired him on March 15, a little more than 24 hours before he was set to retire and collect his pension.

NAFUSA member Peter Vaira has asked that the following question be submitted to our members:

I am testifying before a special Grand Jury Task Force created by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to study changes to the state investigating grand jury, and would like to provide the following information. If your state has a grand jury, is there an official grand jury procedural manual, or some document that serves that purpose, and what government entity publishes it.  

Peter can be reached at p.vaira@gpfflaw.com